Talk about aggression on the cricket field and Rahul Dravid’s name will not be a favourite to pop up. But according to me, he is one of the most aggressive players that the country has ever produced. Time and again he proves that one need not resort to ugly scum spitting in the name of being aggressive.
Sample this, while commenting on Zaheer Khan’s jelly bean incident:

“If he’s going to perform like this, can we please get him upset after every game! I’ve never seen him as fired up. He came into the dressing-room really keyed up, so please, if you’re going to upset our boys, and they’re going to perform like this, I’ll be more than happy.”

No sledging. No swearing. Just a gentle needle to further the embarrassment of the Poms.

PS: Even Anil Kumble falls into the same league. True gentlemen alright, but aggressive ones too!

In my free time, I often browse through old cricket videos in Youtube. One such recent foray made me write this post.

There are so many elegant batsmen in cricket. They are all around us, matching grace and beauty with concentration to score tons of runs. Mark Waugh, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Inzamam ul Haq, to quote a few from the last decade. These guys have mesmerized us with their magic over the years with many a great knock.

But hardly do we come across a bowler, who can be termed as elegant. Bowling, as such is the most definitive candidate for a job which can be termed as thankless. There have been a lot of great bowlers with the knack of picking up wickets. But bowlers who make us sit back and watch them for the way they bowl come once in a lifetime.

One such bowler, and the most elegant of all, is the one and only Wasim Akram. There is no other bowler in cricket who can bowl like him. Period. Shane Warne is the closest, but his fallibility against India works against him. I can watch Wasim bowling his heart out all day in a Test match on a flat wicket. He might end up wicketless, but still gladden my cricketing senses. Wasim Akram – Style personified.

Here, the second ball after he after getting an obvious LBW decision going against him, he foxes “The Wall”.

The next video is Akram’s hat-trick against Sri Lanka. One of the interesting little battles in cricket is getting better of your counterpart in the opponent team. Now watch Wasim’s delivery to get rid of Chaminda Vaas.

Speaking to the press on the wake of England’s exit from the World Cup, the English captain Michael Vaughan was his usual self, effusive in praise of his team. “We had a gameplan, which was to suck in all departments, and as usual, we executed it without any glitches. The lads played upto their potential and all the efforts that we have not put in did not go in vain.”

When quizzed on individual performances, Vaughan did not pull any punches back “I always back myself not to score runs, since I was leading the team and a real English captain never scores runs. Freddie, understandably, did not want to spend too much time in the middle with the bat since he has always thought that beer is a man’s best friend. KP was as selfish as ever. Collingwood and Bell tried spoiling our party, but they weren’t successful, were they?” he remarked with an evil grin.

A few years down the line, a walking stick might soon replace the cricket bat in the familiar sight of Michael Vaughan walking back to the pavilion

“The bowling has been excellent throughout the tournament. Sajid Mahmood and James Andersen have bowling averages more than the batting averages of greats like Sachin, Lara and Ponting. Take that Ricky” he roared demonstrating the fierce Ashes rivalry with the Aussie captain.

Vaughan also promised to carry forward the rich legacy of English captains and players playing on pointlessly well after their shelf-life. “It is a well known fact that Graham Gooch, Mike Gatting, Alec Stewart and many others were not in their primes when they retired. I want to take it one step ahead. I want to be walk off the cricket field with a walking stick” he coughed.

“The future definitely looks bright for English cricket. There are a lot of positives to take forward, especially with youngsters like Paul Nixon – who was blessed with a grandson recently – showing their potential and teenagers like Mal Loye waiting in the wings.” he concluded.

In an unprecedented move, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has called for a ban against the song ‘Sahara Saaral thoovudo’ from the much anticipated Rajnikanth blockbuster Sivaji. The reason, apparently, is that the BCCI feels that such a pathetic song being propagated by heavyweights like Rajnikanth and AR Rahman seriously dents the image of their official sponsors Sahara.

Commenting on the issue, the BCCI Seceretary Mr.Niranjan Shah said “It is a sad state of affairs that we have in our hands. A sorry song like this coming from the music maestro Sachin Tendulkar himself seriously tarnishes the reputation of the official sponsors of Team India. I did not expect this from Sachin.” evidently confusing Tendulkar with AR Rahman.

Sources close to Dinesh Karthik claim that he is extremeley disppointed by BCCI’s appeal. He is supposed to have said “First they say I cannot speak to the media. Now I cannot even listen to Thalaivar’s song. What next, ban on Namitha movies?”

Sri Lankan ace spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who is a Thalaivar fan himself was vehement in expressing opposition. “They can stop us from hearing the song. But no one can stop me from singing it. Sahara Saaral Thoovodo, Bopara Bowled Aanado…” he quipped, manifesting his delight at winning against England.

BCCI received unexpected support from England Skipper Michael Vaughan. “I wholeheartedly support the voice of BCCI. This whole sledging thing by Murali has to be investigated. And there is no drinking culture in the team. Ulla-la-la-leyo, hic hic” he hicked before retiring with a sprained ankle.

“This is totally ridiculous. Perform or perish. Chappell must quit.” howled Former Indian Captain Kris Srikanth on CNN-IBN in response to the question “Is Rajnikanth finally growing up?” put forward by Rajdeep Sardesai.